RUIRU, Kenya — A businessman is fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit at Kenyatta University Referral Hospital after he was shot during an armed robbery at an M-Pesa and gas outlet in Membley, Ruiru, on Friday morning.
Two armed and masked men raided the Favour Business Centre at around 7:30 am, holding two attendants at gunpoint and escaping with more than Ksh600,000.
CCTV footage obtained from the scene shows the two suspects entering the shop before drawing pistols and ordering the attendants to hand over the day’s cash. The robbery itself lasted less than five minutes, but the situation escalated when attendants and members of the public pursued the suspects as they fled on a motorcycle toward Kamae Estate.
Police say the gang opened fire on the pursuing crowd, discharging close to ten rounds. Two bullets struck attendant Jackson Maina in the chest and ribs. Maina collapsed at the scene and was rushed to Kenyatta University Referral Hospital, where he remains in the ICU.
“Hao watu walikuja na kuingia tu, all of a sudden, they got them in the shop, wakaanza kuiba, after that he was shot… He was just doing his job… now he is in the ICU at Kenyatta National Hospital fighting for his life,” said Paul Njoroge, a family member of Maina.
The incident has drawn criticism from residents over the police response. Some claimed an officer from Kahawa West arrived at the scene to collect spent cartridges, despite the shooting having occurred outside that jurisdiction, while officers attached to Membley Police Station reportedly had no operational vehicle available at the time.
Epha Maina, a Membley resident, questioned why the attendant was shot after the gang had already secured the money.
“After hiyo shooting, sasa kijana ako hospital na jamaa ameenda na pesa, why steal and shoot him? Si huyo ni muuaji… Police, yes, kuna polisi alikuja lakini alikuwa wa Kahawa West akachukua ganda za risasi? Mbona na yeye si wa hii jurisdiction? Alafu polisi hawa wa Membley hawana gari, kabisa. By the time they arrived, the criminals were already gone. We are completely unsafe here,” she said — questioning why the gunmen would shoot after already getting the money, criticising the jurisdictional mix-up over the responding officer, and voicing frustration over the local police station’s lack of a working vehicle.
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Kiambu County Police Commander Kennedy Osando Samani said detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have retrieved the CCTV footage and interviewed key witnesses as investigations continue. He said investigators are also examining whether the robbery may be linked to rogue police officers.
“Our investigations are at an advanced stage to trace this armed gang. We are looking into all angles, including internal complicity, and we will bring the culprits to book,” Osando said.
Police say they are pursuing the suspects as detectives continue to piece together the circumstances of the robbery and shooting.
The attack adds to a string of violent robberies targeting M-Pesa and mobile money outlets across Nairobi, Kiambu and neighbouring counties in recent years, incidents that have repeatedly raised concerns about the vulnerability of small mobile-money businesses to armed gangs, as well as the adequacy of local police response capacity in fast-growing peri-urban areas like Ruiru.
